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Information, Volume 3, Issue 4 (December 2012) – 16 articles , Pages 546-831

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1369 KiB  
Article
Implementation of Classical Communication in a Quantum World
by Chris Fields
Information 2012, 3(4), 809-831; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040809 - 13 Dec 2012
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6282
Abstract
Observations of quantum systems carried out by finite observers who subsequently communicate their results using classical data structures can be described as “local operations, classical communication” (LOCC) observations. The implementation of LOCC observations by the Hamiltonian dynamics prescribed by minimal quantum mechanics is [...] Read more.
Observations of quantum systems carried out by finite observers who subsequently communicate their results using classical data structures can be described as “local operations, classical communication” (LOCC) observations. The implementation of LOCC observations by the Hamiltonian dynamics prescribed by minimal quantum mechanics is investigated. It is shown that LOCC observations cannot be described using decoherence considerations alone, but rather require the a priori stipulation of a positive operator-valued measure (POVM) about which communicating observers agree. It is also shown that the transfer of classical information from system to observer can be described in terms of system-observer entanglement, raising the possibility that an apparatus implementing an appropriate POVM can reveal the entangled system-observer states that implement LOCC observations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Information Theory and Methodology)
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87 KiB  
Article
On the Origin of Metadata
by Erik Mannens, Ruben Verborgh, Seth Van Hooland, Laurence Hauttekeete, Tom Evens, Sam Coppens and Rik Van de Walle
Information 2012, 3(4), 790-808; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040790 - 07 Dec 2012
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 7577
Abstract
Metadata has been around and has evolved for centuries, albeit not recognized as such. Medieval manuscripts typically had illuminations at the start of each chapter, being both a kind of signature for the author writing the script and a pictorial chapter anchor for [...] Read more.
Metadata has been around and has evolved for centuries, albeit not recognized as such. Medieval manuscripts typically had illuminations at the start of each chapter, being both a kind of signature for the author writing the script and a pictorial chapter anchor for the illiterates at the time. Nowadays, there is so much fragmented information on the Internet that users sometimes fail to distinguish the real facts from some bended truth, let alone being able to interconnect different facts. Here, the metadata can both act as noise-reductors for detailed recommendations to the end-users, as it can be the catalyst to interconnect related information. Over time, metadata thus not only has had different modes of information, but furthermore, metadata’s relation of information to meaning, i.e., “semantics”, evolved. Darwin’s evolutionary propositions, from “species have an unlimited reproductive capacity”, over “natural selection”, to “the cooperation of mutations leads to adaptation to the environment” show remarkable parallels to both metadata’s different modes of information and to its relation of information to meaning over time. In this paper, we will show that the evolution of the use of (meta)data can be mapped to Darwin’s nine evolutionary propositions. As mankind and its behavior are products of an evolutionary process, the evolutionary process of metadata with its different modes of information is on the verge of a new-semantic-era. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information: Its Different Modes and Its Relation to Meaning)
391 KiB  
Article
A General Overview of Scientific Production in China, Japan and Korea of the Water-Gas Shift (WGS) Process
by Edoardo Magnone
Information 2012, 3(4), 771-789; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040771 - 29 Nov 2012
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6576
Abstract
In today’s economy, one of the most important national indicators of economic growth performance is the country’s ability to produce new technology—and use it responsibly and efficiently—for environmental protection or energy conservation, production and consumption in agreement with international standards. The purpose of [...] Read more.
In today’s economy, one of the most important national indicators of economic growth performance is the country’s ability to produce new technology—and use it responsibly and efficiently—for environmental protection or energy conservation, production and consumption in agreement with international standards. The purpose of this study is to identify the Research and Development (R&D) capability in the area of environmentally friendly technologies in China, Japan and Korea over the last twenty years. As the field is very wide, Water-Gas Shift (WGS) reaction technologies were taken as a case study for the purpose of this article. During 1990–2011 a total of 788 papers in the field of WGS technologies were published by scientists in China, Japan and Korea. China was the top producing country with 394 papers (50%) followed by Japan with 250 papers (32%), and Korea with 144 papers (18%). The growth of the literature in the field was found to be exponential in nature for China. The R&D capabilities were found to correlate directly with the Gross Domestic Expenditures on R&D (GERD), Researchers in Full-time equivalents (FTE), and other economic parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Information and Communications Technology)
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155 KiB  
Article
Quaternionic Multilayer Perceptron with Local Analyticity
by Teijiro Isokawa, Haruhiko Nishimura and Nobuyuki Matsui
Information 2012, 3(4), 756-770; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040756 - 28 Nov 2012
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 14653
Abstract
A multi-layered perceptron type neural network is presented and analyzed in this paper. All neuronal parameters such as input, output, action potential and connection weight are encoded by quaternions, which are a class of hypercomplex number system. Local analytic condition is imposed on [...] Read more.
A multi-layered perceptron type neural network is presented and analyzed in this paper. All neuronal parameters such as input, output, action potential and connection weight are encoded by quaternions, which are a class of hypercomplex number system. Local analytic condition is imposed on the activation function in updating neurons’ states in order to construct learning algorithm for this network. An error back-propagation algorithm is introduced for modifying the connection weights of the network. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain like Computing, Communication and Machines)
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62 KiB  
Editorial
Information and Energy/Matter
by Gordana Dodig Crnkovic
Information 2012, 3(4), 751-755; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040751 - 26 Nov 2012
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6496
Abstract
What can we hope for from studies of information related to energy/matter (as it appears for us in space/time)? Information is a concept known for its ambiguity in both common, everyday use and in its specific technical applications throughout different fields of research [...] Read more.
What can we hope for from studies of information related to energy/matter (as it appears for us in space/time)? Information is a concept known for its ambiguity in both common, everyday use and in its specific technical applications throughout different fields of research and technology. However, most people are unaware that matter/energy today is also a concept surrounded by a disquieting uncertainty. What for Democritus were building blocks of the whole universe appear today to constitute only 4% of its observed content. (NASA 2012) [1] The rest is labeled “dark matter” (conjectured to explain gravitational effects otherwise unaccounted for) and “dark energy” (introduced to account for the expansion of the universe). We do not know what “dark matter” and “dark energy” actually are. This indicates that our present understanding of the structure of the physical world needs re-examination. [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information and Energy/Matter)
262 KiB  
Article
Information Theory and Computational Thermodynamics: Lessons for Biology from Physics
by Hector Zenil
Information 2012, 3(4), 739-750; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040739 - 22 Nov 2012
Cited by 67 | Viewed by 8654
Abstract
We survey a few aspects of the thermodynamics of computation, connecting information, thermodynamics, computability and physics. We suggest some lines of research into how information theory and computational thermodynamics can help us arrive at a better understanding of biological processes. We argue that [...] Read more.
We survey a few aspects of the thermodynamics of computation, connecting information, thermodynamics, computability and physics. We suggest some lines of research into how information theory and computational thermodynamics can help us arrive at a better understanding of biological processes. We argue that while a similar connection between information theory and evolutionary biology seems to be growing stronger and stronger, biologists tend to use information simply as a metaphor. While biologists have for the most part been influenced and inspired by information theory as developed by Claude Shannon, we think the introduction of algorithmic complexity into biology will turn out to be a much deeper and more fruitful cross-pollination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information and Energy/Matter)
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148 KiB  
Article
Angeletics and Logic in Reality
by Joseph E. Brenner
Information 2012, 3(4), 715-738; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040715 - 21 Nov 2012
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6837
Abstract
Rafael Capurro has defined Angeletics (or messaging theory—John Holgate’s preferred term) as the study of messages and messaging and proposed its paradigmatic role in 21st century science and society. As stated in Messages and Messengers. Angeletics as an Approach to the Phenomenology of [...] Read more.
Rafael Capurro has defined Angeletics (or messaging theory—John Holgate’s preferred term) as the study of messages and messaging and proposed its paradigmatic role in 21st century science and society. As stated in Messages and Messengers. Angeletics as an Approach to the Phenomenology of Communication, edited by Capurro and Holgate, the objective of Angeletics is to further both a philosophical and a hermeneutical understanding of this phenomenon. My paper is directed at key issues outlined in the reference document by several authors that involve the physical grounding and evolution of messaging and information processes. My approach is to apply my recent extension of logic to complex real systems, processes and concepts, including information, messages and their interaction (Logic in Reality, LIR). LIR supports the grounding of Angeletics in reality and emphasizes the congruence between informational issues in science and in philosophy, as in Capurro’s distinction between an “angeletic philosophy” and “philosophic Angeletics”. From this perspective, LIR can act as a framework for the debate about the nature and function of messaging and information theory and their relevance for a more ethical information society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Angeletics / Messaging Theory)
241 KiB  
Article
The Logical Dynamics of Information; Deacon’s “Incomplete Nature
by Joseph E. Brenner
Information 2012, 3(4), 676-714; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040676 - 16 Nov 2012
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6415
Abstract
In his Incomplete Nature, Deacon extends a thermodynamic concept of energy to yield a description of complex processes in which absence plays a critical role in their emergence and evolution. Starting from a quantum-mechanical picture of energy as an energy-matter duality, the [...] Read more.
In his Incomplete Nature, Deacon extends a thermodynamic concept of energy to yield a description of complex processes in which absence plays a critical role in their emergence and evolution. Starting from a quantum-mechanical picture of energy as an energy-matter duality, the critical role of potential as well as actual properties of processes is also described in the new extension of logic to real phenomena, Logic in Reality (LIR), which I have proposed. Deacon shows how an interactive operation of both Shannon entropy and Boltzmann entropy must be taken into account in information. Here, I demonstrate the complementarity of our two approaches to what is not, or not fully, present for an understanding of the dynamics of complex phenomena, especially, of intentionality, information and meaning. Deacon shows that the hallmark of information is its absent content, and LIR shows that presence (actuality) and absence (potentiality) in such processes are related dynamically. Deacon’s approach and LIR ground and extend Logan’s concepts of biotic information and the relativity of information vs. meaning. Their conjunction constitutes a new conceptual structure for exploring the relationship of information to materiality, that is, to the matter-energy that constitutes it as its carrier and/or substrate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information: Its Different Modes and Its Relation to Meaning)
230 KiB  
Article
Enhancing the Search in MOLAP Sparse Data
by Joseph Zalaket
Information 2012, 3(4), 661-675; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040661 - 14 Nov 2012
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 5617
Abstract
Multidimensional on-line analytical processing (MOLAP) systems deal well with dense data than relational ones (ROLAP). In the existence of sparse data, MOLAP systems become memory consuming, which may limit and slow down data processing tasks. Many compression techniques have been proposed to deal [...] Read more.
Multidimensional on-line analytical processing (MOLAP) systems deal well with dense data than relational ones (ROLAP). In the existence of sparse data, MOLAP systems become memory consuming, which may limit and slow down data processing tasks. Many compression techniques have been proposed to deal with the sparsity of data in MOLAP systems. One of these techniques is the bitmap compression, which allows a significant reduction of the memory space used for data processing. In this article, we propose an extension to the bitmap compression technique by storing the compressed data as bits into multiple efficient data structures based on a new indexing strategy instead of the linear structure. Compared with the classical bitmap, the proposed enhancement not only allows space reduction but also reduces the search time through the compressed data. We present some algorithms that allow maintaining and searching within the compressed structure without the need for decompression. We demonstrate that the complexity of the proposed algorithms varies from logarithmic to constant, compared with the linear complexity of the classical bitmap technique. Full article
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234 KiB  
Article
Extensional Information Articulation from the Universe
by Makoto Yoshitake and Yasufumi Saruwatari
Information 2012, 3(4), 644-660; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040644 - 13 Nov 2012
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6080
Abstract
Information must have physical support and this physical universe comprisesphysical interactions. Hence actual information processes should have a description byinteractions alone, i.e., an extensional description. In this paper, such a model of the processof information articulation from the universe is developed [...] Read more.
Information must have physical support and this physical universe comprisesphysical interactions. Hence actual information processes should have a description byinteractions alone, i.e., an extensional description. In this paper, such a model of the processof information articulation from the universe is developed by generalizing the extensivemeasurement theory in metrology. Moreover, a model of the attribute creation processis presented to exemplify a step of the informational articulation process. These modelsdemonstrate the valuableness of the extensional view and are expected to enhance theunderstanding of the extensional aspects of fundamentals of information. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information and Energy/Matter)
160 KiB  
Article
When Information Conveys Meaning
by Anthony Reading
Information 2012, 3(4), 635-643; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040635 - 02 Nov 2012
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 7004
Abstract
While some information is clearly meaningful and some clearly is not, no one has been able to identify exactly what the difference is. The major obstacle has been the way information and meaning are conceptualized: the one in the physical realm of tangible, [...] Read more.
While some information is clearly meaningful and some clearly is not, no one has been able to identify exactly what the difference is. The major obstacle has been the way information and meaning are conceptualized: the one in the physical realm of tangible, objective entities and the other in the mental world of intangible, subjective ones. This paper introduces an approach that incorporates both of them within a unified framework by defining them in terms of what they do, rather than what they are. Meaningful information is thus conceptualized here as patterns of matter and energy that have a tangible effect on the entities that detect them, either by changing their function, structure or behavior, while patterns of matter and energy that have no such effects are considered meaningless. The way that meaningful information can act as a causal agent in bio-behavioral systems enables us to move beyond dualistic concepts of ourselves as comprised of a material body that obeys the laws of physics and a non-material essence that is too elusive to study [1]. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information: Its Different Modes and Its Relation to Meaning)
85 KiB  
Article
Design Epistemology
by Dino Karabeg
Information 2012, 3(4), 621-634; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040621 - 24 Oct 2012
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 7152
Abstract
The liberation from the view that only one way of making sense of experience is legitimate (the one that “corresponds to reality”), which follows from the results of 20th century science and philosophy, puts us into a position to consciously choose and assign [...] Read more.
The liberation from the view that only one way of making sense of experience is legitimate (the one that “corresponds to reality”), which follows from the results of 20th century science and philosophy, puts us into a position to consciously choose and assign a purpose to the creation of meaning; and based on that choice, to develop completely new modes of information, to suit each chosen purpose. We present an instance of this approach, where information and knowledge work are considered as key societal systemic components, and then designed as it may best suit the various functions that pertain to this role, notably the function of illuminating the way to all other systemic self-organization. Design epistemology provides an academic foundation for this approach; the Knowledge Federation community implements it in practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information: Its Different Modes and Its Relation to Meaning)
1054 KiB  
Article
Fröhlich Condensate: Emergence of Synergetic Dissipative Structures in Information Processing Biological and Condensed Matter Systems
by Áurea R. Vasconcellos, Fabio Stucchi Vannucchi, Sérgio Mascarenhas and Roberto Luzzi
Information 2012, 3(4), 601-620; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040601 - 24 Oct 2012
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 11382
Abstract
We consider the case of a peculiar complex behavior in open boson systems sufficiently away from equilibrium, having relevance in the functioning of information-processing biological and condensed matter systems. This is the so-called Fröhlich–Bose–Einstein condensation, a self-organizing-synergetic dissipative structure, a phenomenon apparently working [...] Read more.
We consider the case of a peculiar complex behavior in open boson systems sufficiently away from equilibrium, having relevance in the functioning of information-processing biological and condensed matter systems. This is the so-called Fröhlich–Bose–Einstein condensation, a self-organizing-synergetic dissipative structure, a phenomenon apparently working in biological processes and present in several cases of systems of boson-like quasi-particles in condensed inorganic matter. Emphasis is centered on the quantum-mechanical-statistical irreversible thermodynamics of these open systems, and the informational characteristics of the phenomena. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain like Computing, Communication and Machines)
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37 KiB  
Article
Information and the Regulation of a Lower Hierarchical Level by a Higher One
by Stanley N. Salthe
Information 2012, 3(4), 595-600; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040595 - 22 Oct 2012
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 5632
Abstract
In this paper I consider the usefulness of the compositional hierarchy model in understanding the information flows involved in group behaviors in animals. I propose that short-term memory can function to transduce information across scale, thereby connecting different modes of information and mediating [...] Read more.
In this paper I consider the usefulness of the compositional hierarchy model in understanding the information flows involved in group behaviors in animals. I propose that short-term memory can function to transduce information across scale, thereby connecting different modes of information and mediating coherent group motions. This transduction I propose to be mediated by the “sign” as understood in Peircean semiotics, generating the meaning of the information for the social animal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information: Its Different Modes and Its Relation to Meaning)
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319 KiB  
Article
Information Physics—Towards a New Conception of Physical Reality
by Philip Goyal
Information 2012, 3(4), 567-594; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040567 - 17 Oct 2012
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 9915
Abstract
The concept of information plays a fundamental role in our everyday experience, but is conspicuously absent in framework of classical physics. Over the last century, quantum theory and a series of other developments in physics and related subjects have brought the concept of [...] Read more.
The concept of information plays a fundamental role in our everyday experience, but is conspicuously absent in framework of classical physics. Over the last century, quantum theory and a series of other developments in physics and related subjects have brought the concept of information and the interface between an agent and the physical world into increasing prominence. As a result, over the last few decades, there has arisen a growing belief amongst many physicists that the concept of information may have a critical role to play in our understanding of the workings of the physical world, both in more deeply understanding existing physical theories and in formulating of new theories. In this paper, I describe the origin of the informational view of physics, illustrate some of the work inspired by this view, and give some indication of its implications for the development of a new conception of physical reality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information and Energy/Matter)
327 KiB  
Article
A Toy Model for Torsorial Nature of Representations
by Makoto Yoshitake
Information 2012, 3(4), 546-566; https://doi.org/10.3390/info3040546 - 09 Oct 2012
Cited by 183 | Viewed by 5433
Abstract
This paper presents a toy model for the representation related phenomena. It is the representation that is always referred to. The represented thing in itself is indeterminate existence at a fundamental level of understanding. In order to capture such property of representation, this [...] Read more.
This paper presents a toy model for the representation related phenomena. It is the representation that is always referred to. The represented thing in itself is indeterminate existence at a fundamental level of understanding. In order to capture such property of representation, this paper provides a toy model using an algebraic structure: torsor. The toy model captures this baselessness of representation naturally, and can be used to describe various phenomena of representations. Adopting the torsor and focusing on the two-sidedness and the closure property of representation enables the toy model to express some consistency of representations. Full article
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